


One Choice

by SarbearOkami



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Forced Cooperation, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pirates, Slow Burn, no beta reader we die like men, now upgraded to a chaptered fic bc i find the lack of ferdimi disappointing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:35:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21878974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarbearOkami/pseuds/SarbearOkami
Summary: Ferdinand makes a move for the record books. The dumbest move ever.-//Subject to changes in the future. May become a chaptered fic.
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir/Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd
Comments: 7
Kudos: 39





	1. One Choice

**Author's Note:**

> Hello yes, I only have an approximate knowledge of BL route from friends but I just really wanted to write this.

Arrows whistled by Ferdinand as he held his ground, watching from a distance as soldier after soldier attempted to take on the forces from Faerghus. With varying success, he noted, spotting the numerous dead Faerghus soldiers, but never any of their elite units. His old schoolmates. The fact left a bitter taste on his tongue, coppery like the blood about to be spilled on his lance in the name of the Emperor.

The Blue Lions, led by their monstrous king and their former professor everyone adored, quickly racked up kills as they pushed their way across the bridge. The scene almost made him flinch, almost. The brutality in which the fallen king flung his enemies around with little regard would unnerve even the most stoic, after all. A fate that would surely befall Ferdinand should he fail to kill Dimitri here and now.

Numerous troops now looked to him for guidance, obviously unsure of how to proceed. He tightened the reins of his horse and stared them down. "Stay steady. We need to continue to hold this bridge or we fail the Emperor."

A collective agreement moved around the crowd, shifting of armour and weapons audible as the Faerghus forces barrelled closer. Several more arrows shot through the air, taking down a few soldiers in the frontlines and heavy armour soldiers took their place to form an ironclad barrier.

At first, the barricade seemed to work. Arrows and spells bounced off the heavy shields that protected the battalion. The melee soldiers of the enemy struggled to gain purchase with their axes and swords. Ferdinand exhaled, ready to call out the next order when the stomach-flipping sound of bent metal sounded and a heavy soldier fell over, a lance lodged through his shield and his body, armour and all. The soldiers stared at their dead comrade with disbelief, backing up as Dimitri braved his foot on the corpse to yank his spear out.

The barricade quickly dissolved as the battalion's focus shifted to taking down the enemy commander. Dimitri regarded them little, dispatching them as they approached with ease. Numbers began to thin quickly, the remaining Blue Lions running through to assist their king. Ferdinand tightened the grip on his spear and set his jaw, urging his horse in a canter towards the enemy.

His first strike surprised Dimitri, taking him off-guard with the full strength of his horse behind his lance, though it did little but stun the king for a few seconds. He turned around as Dimitri righted himself, training his violent gaze on the cavalier before him. Dimitri slammed the butt of his spear on the ground. "You finally join the fight. I will take great pleasure in spilling your guts, Imperial dog!"

The growl in his voice let Ferdinand know that it would not be a quick death. In an instant, he charged his horse forward again, just missing his enemy's lance as it careened past his face, for his own to embed itself in Dimitri's shoulder. The king grunted, yanking the spear from his shoulder and tugging the weapon with all his strength, the abruptness ripping Ferdinand off his horse and into the dirt.

Ferdinand wheezed, the air knocked from his chest by the impact, but was given no rest as he quickly rolled to the side to avoid his own spear piercing the ground where his head had just been. He clamoured to his feet, snatching up a lance from a nearby fallen soldier. He coughed, shaking dirt from his hair as Dimitri stalked towards him. Even with a weapon to defend himself, Dimitri's attacks hit hard, and were unrelentless too, apparently. His shoulder wound wept red into the white fur of his cloak, but paid it no regard as he wailed on Ferdinand.

He kept up with the king for the most part, he thought anyway. An unexpected sweep caused him to take a blow to his knee, and Ferdinand tasted blood in his mouth as he bit his lip, feeling his knee shatter and buckle under his own weight. He fell on his back, knocking out the little breath he recovered yet again. He lost. Ferdinand almost wanting to laugh at how pathetic that was.

But he wasn't going to just take it. Instead, he stared down the enemy king in defiance as the other raised his weapon. "No riveting monologue about your victory? You really are boring."

It was a somewhat underhanded tactic, but it was the only thing Ferdinand could think of that could possibly stop Dimitri from skewering Ferdinand on his own weapon. Dimitri's face twisted into a repulsed grimace. "I do not owe dogs like you a speech."

He readied the weapon again, only for his wrist to be grasped by the professor, who only shook their head despite Dimitri's obvious annoyance. He shook off the hand, disregarding their professor's concern as he brought the spear up again. Ferdinand's gaze quickly zipped around, looking desperately for even the smallest sliver of hope. And he saw it.

Right behind Dimitri; a part of the bridge where the wall and floor had collapsed during the battle. It was a foolish decision, hardly better than just sitting there and accepting his death, but it was the only thing he could do right now that would improve his country's situation. Dimitri bickered with the professor again as they tried to stop him, and it was that opportunity that Ferdinand took to leap to his feet, ignoring the flaring pain in his leg as he tackled Dimitri around the middle.

Part of him didn't actually expect it to work; Dimitri had more strength than him after all. But being distracted by the professor was enough to catch him off-guard and stumble over the edge of the bridge. Several horrified gasps from the Blue Lions reached them before the wind began to whistle by their ears As they plummeted to the depths below. Ferdinand almost wanted to laugh again. What a way to go, he supposed. Though in this situation, he felt like Dimitri was the luckier one here, since he couldn't see the fast-approaching river below. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying his best to block out the wind and Dimitri's enraged shouts before the impact.


	2. Sea Salt and Bread

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have played all routes now.... except CF (working on it). Anyway- here we go. It's chaptered now. Because I couldn't leave it alone.
> 
> ALSO I do want to clarify that my knowledge of Myrrdin Bridge was, well, wrong. For some reason my brain insisted it was a cliff area, but yknow what chapter 1 can make sense anyway.

The coast that ran along the side of the Adrestian Empire and the Leicester Alliance was often described as perilous nowadays, given the war propagated by the Empire and the dissolved state of the Alliance. While much of Imperial presence was inland, there was not so much out on the open ocean, giving rise to a new age of piracy that leeched off the costs of war that happened upon their path. Coastal towns burned to a crisp, supplies and bodies lost to the water, all was ripe for the taking.

Such a ship meandered around the mouth of the Airmid River. While the bounty that flowed from it was nothing compared to what it initially yielded, back in the early days of the war, the river still provided bountiful loot from border battles, especially since the river flowed almost directly from the derelict Garreg Mach Monastery itself.

The young crew-mate arming the bird's nest peered across the ocean, combing the blue expanse for anything of value to report. It was a tireless job, yet one he enjoyed, just to see the look of his fellow crew's faces when he brought good news. For the moment, things had been dull as an old knife, their last score almost a week before. A knock on his post alerted him. "Oi, Mouse, found anything?"

"Not a thing." Mouse replied. It wasn't really his name, but rather a nickname after his small stature and shrewd nature. He peered into the distance yet again, finding nothing. Slumping against the rail of the nest, he sighed, exasperated, as an echo of grumbles sounded below. The crew was becoming antsy. He tapped his fingers on the rail.

This continued for over an hour. A knock, a question, and the same answer yet again. The crew eventually broke out the alcohol, preferring to drown their boredom rather than hear another negative report. The sun began to set at this time, and the jolly sounds of the tipsy crew below were all that kept Mouse company in his nest as he tirelessly continued to comb the ocean.

It happened just before the sun disappeared into the horizon. In the last vestiges of daylight, Mouse perked up, spotting a flash of colour being swept out of the river mouth and into the ocean. In his eyeglass, the spot of colour became two, and excitedly he yelled down to his mates. "Two unknowns spotted near the mouth!"

The crew reacted immediately despite their intoxication, the news almost sobering them completely within minutes. Mouse kept his eye on the two unknowns, keeping track of their locations in case they started to drift off. The ship was quick to reach them, close enough to identify the two as bodies. Hefting them up onto the deck further showed that they were dressed quite expensively.

Nobles most likely, they determined from the intricate workmanship of their attires. One dressed fashionably like a court noble, the other preferring more practical armour besides the cozy fur cloak he wore. An Adrestian noble, and a Faerghus noble, that much was easy to determine. Perhaps a skirmish along the river had resulted in their demise?

A crew member inspected the bodies, an expression of surprise appearing on his face. "Bloody hell, they're both still alive!"

Murmurs ran around the crew. Alive? They had not encountered anyone  _ alive _ yet. An oppressing atmosphere settled around the area. Suddenly, the idea of theft didn't seem so palatable when the victim was alive to get angry about it. Mouse looked at the faces in the crowd, commonfolk who turned to piracy in desperate times. None of them were even proper thieves, let alone murderers. Scavengers, at most.

"Why don't we just… take their valuables and put them ashore?" One voice offered.

"Don't be daft. They'll just run off and place a bounty on our thieving selves." Another retorted. "Just toss them!"

The same inspecting crew member clucked his tongue. Mouse remembered him as a physician, at one point. "I doubt it. Ginger has a shattered knee, and I don't even want to begin with Blondie here. A whole mess."

Silence followed his statement, clearly understanding what their former physician was saying. He tipped his hat. "By all means, we should still take their valuables. But, y'know, make it seem like we picked them up like that. No bad feelings and we don't get hunted for letting two potentially important nobles die after selling their gear."

"What, so you want us to just be friendly?" Another inquired. "In case you haven't noticed, these two are  _ enemies _ . And they're going to try and fight each other again at the first chance they get, just like all the others. What do you propose to solve that, huh?"

\---

Ferdinand awoke to a churning stomach and the sound of waves in the not-so-far distance. His vision swam before his eyes, struggling to pick out details in the dim light from the floor he lay on. A lock of stringy, salt-caked hair fell onto his face, and he instinctively reached to tuck it away before feeling immediate resistance. Still groggy, he experimentally tugged his wrists, confirming that yes, they are bound. The strand, still untucked, tickled his nose and he immediately sneezed in response.

The sneeze at least managed to clear his head a little, vision becoming clearer to define the scene before him. A plain wooden room with bars along one side, which Ferdinand immediately recognised as a brig. He looked down at himself to see his armour and outerwear finery, heavens even his  _ boots, _ gone, all gone; his injured leg put in a crude splint at least but that was the last thing on his mind. Where was he? Who imprisoned him?  _ Why was he not dead, as planned? _

Furiously blowing his hair out of his face, Ferdinand attempted to sit up, his screaming muscles making him immediately regret his decision. He at least managed to sit himself up, examining his surroundings in greater detail. The dim light shone from a few small lanterns on the walls outside the bars, the only natural light coming from a small window that showed a cloudless blue sky. The air smelled musty, like old wood, and Ferdinand wrinkled his nose as the scent of moss.

A ship, most likely belonging to less than honourable members of society, he figured, glancing at his minimal state of dress. If they were out on the sea, then perhaps they had fished him from the river mouth? Ferdinand knew the Airmid River flowed into the ocean eventually, though it was a bit aways from the Myrrdin Bridge. It must've been a miracle for him to have not drowned during the trip.

A sinking feeling settled in his heart. If he was like this, then there was no way Dimitri had survived too. Ferdinand supposed he should be happy, that his death would make things easier for Edelgard, but he couldn't shake off the gnawing feeling of being responsible for the death of a schoolmate. The thought left a foul taste in his mouth and he screwed up his face. What had to be done, was done, he rationalised. Now all that was left was to somehow escape a ship of criminals, who were heavens-knows where, and get back to his fellow Black Eagles.

The floorboards creaked behind him. Startled, Ferdinand whipped his head around, peering right into the cell behind him. In the musty light, he made out the body of another person, also stripped to his underclothes, splinted and bandaged beyond recognition - but his messy mop of blonde hair identified him as Dimitri. Ferdinand sucked in a breath, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood as he immediately went back on his prior thoughts. A traitorous part of his mind expressed relief, and he shoved it down with the crippling weight of the situation. So not only did he not manage to do the one thing he had set to do, but was also trapped in a room with the very person who most likely now hated his guts second only to Edelgard herself. He chuckled to himself, just a little. "Well now, this situation just became worse tenfold."

Metal creaked as a figure descended the stairs, carrying a bowl and a plate. Instinctively, Ferdinand shuffled away from the bars-side of the cage, his broken knee protesting with a dull pain that he ignored fervently. The figure stepped into the sunlight that streamed through the small windows, revealing themself to be a burly yet plain-looking man with a large beard. His face held neither contempt nor pity as he simply passed the bowl and plate through the bars of Ferdinand's cell. "You lucked out there, rich boy. I figured you'd be up before your 'friend' over there."

"This is a pirate ship, is it not?" Ferdinand asked, his voice tinged with anger. He shifted into a more comfortable position and gave the man his best sarcastic smile. "I would demand that you release me, but I figure you would rather gut me before considering it."

The burly man flinched a little at his words. "Don't be mistaken. Yes, we are pirates, but we were commonfolk before the war. Violence is not our nature and we don't intend you harm. If we had, we wouldn't have bothered to splint your leg, would we?"

The fact caused Ferdinand to simmer down a little. He looked down at his crude, but carefully constructed splint and bit his lip. The man before him had the build of a heavy worker, and the callouses of his hands implied a craft of some kind, maybe wood or metal. He noticed Ferdinand's gaze and gestured with his hands. "I used to be a blacksmith, before my village was destroyed. The man who splinted your leg was a doctor before his family was killed."

"I… am sorry for your loss." Ferdinand breathed out.

The burly man narrowed his eyes. "You say that. But you're an Imperial. You're the ones who destroyed my home. By all means, we should've left you to drown."

He sighed and gestured Ferdinand towards him. Confused, Ferdinand didn't move. He rolled his eyes and pulled out a small knife from his belt. "Get over here so I can cut your ties. We may dislike you, but we aren't going to force you to eat off the floor like a dog."

"After you told me you would have preferred that I had drowned? Forgive me for not turning my back to pirates." Ferdinand said with a sour tone. He experimentally wiggled his arms behind his back.

"Honestly, you think I'd be stupid enough to kill an Adrestian noble? I quite like my head on my shoulders, thanks."

"And yet you participate in piracy. You say you are not violent, but stripping nobles and holding them hostage does not seem nonviolent to me. Pirates are, by definition, criminals that plunder and steal, are they not?"

The blacksmith sheathed his knife. "You know what, I've changed my mind. Have fun trying to figure out how to eat with no hands."

He left without another word. Ferdinand bit his lip and cursed his stupid words. Stupid stupid stupid. Still, the pang of hunger in his stomach started to make itself known, yet he wouldn't allow him to debase himself as to eat off the floor. He twisted in his binds, finding no escape. An exasperated huff escaped his chest, leaning against the far wall of the cage this time. Immediately he shot up straight again as something poked his back.

Feeling along the wall with his hands, he eventually came across a dull, somewhat rusted nail that protruded from the wall. It wasn't sharp enough to cut through rope, but perhaps enough to tear through the fibres a bit. Ferdinand tested this, plinking away at a few fibres until they snapped. Even after several minutes of this, the thick rope still proved too strong to be torn, so he relegated himself to the next hour or so of tearing the fibres one by one, his stomach protesting his actions for taking so long, but eventually he got it to the point where his tired arms could rip the rope on their own.

He flexed his newly freed arms with relief, hours of unnatural position leaving them tired and sore, just like the rest of him. An insistent growl reminded him of why he had done so in the first place, and Ferdinand shuffled over to the rations given to him. They were shockingly simple: a husk of bread and a goblet of water. He tore into the bread with his teeth. The dough was a bit stale, but chewy and yeasty and definitely satisfying his insistent stomach just enough to push away the cravings.

Movement in the corner of his eye caught Ferdinand's attention, and in his surprise he dropped the remainder of the bread back onto its plate. He instinctively shimmied away from the adjacent cell bars, uneasiness rooting in the pit of his stomach as his fellow prisoner seemed to regain consciousness at last. A shiver ran over his skin. Ferdinand had almost forgotten Dimitri was just a set of iron bars next door, and the sudden realisation made his hands clammy and trembling. Unwanted memories of the battle of the bridge surfaced in his mind, remembering Dimitri wrecking havoc in his wake, destroying those in his path on his way to rip Ferdinand's head from his shoulders as an Imperial general, a maleficent plague upon the land in Dimitri's mind--

Ferdinand's panicked internal monologue was cut short as Dimitri sat up with little effort despite how bandaged his entire body was. A stagnant silence broke out, only punctuated by Ferdinand's slightly laboured breath. Dimitri surveyed his surroundings with one bleary eye, blinking into the dimness with some difficulty. His unfocused gaze landed on Ferdinand and a scowl crawled its way onto his face. "YOU."

Dimitri made to get on his knees before promptly buckling under his injuries and clambouring to the floor again. Ferdinand gave a relieved sigh, still tinged with unease, but that relief continued to spread as Dimitri tried and failed to stand again. It was an awful thing to be relieved about, though Ferdinand could care less as long as it meant his head would be staying on his shoulders where it belonged. He picked up his bread again and picked at the dough. "Good morning."

"You-! I'll  _ kill _ you for pulling a stunt like that." Dimitri replied viciously. He shuffled over to the bars with great difficulty, uselessly tugging on them like he wanted to rip them apart but his limbs refused.

"I do not mean to sound patronising, but what you are doing is quite futile. Do you see what kind of ship we are in?" Ferdinand inquired. 

Dimitri briefly took in his surroundings, a scowl working its way up to his eye as he realised. "Pirates… lowlife rats."

"Rats? I would say that is a bit harsh." Ferdinand replied. He pulled off a piece of his bread and popped it into his mouth. "Criminals they may be, but we cannot deny that we made them this way with the war. The common-folk have suffered the most."

"Who cares? I'll kill them all." Dimitri retorted. He struggled to his feet again, and buckled yet again.

Ferdinand frowned. "How do you plan to do that when you cannot even stand? They may have taken your valuables, but they also saved your life-"

"I don't  _ care. _ "

"You  _ will  _ care when you keep continuously agitating your injuries. I am not telling you to just forgive them, I am telling you that the situation we are in is dire and you are giving yourself too much credit." Ferdinand said, "What is stopping them from slitting your throat when you sleep? Cutting you down trying to escape as you are? Think rationally!"

His words weren't entirely truthful. Ferdinand didn't believe their captors would attack without reason. But he had to be insanely aware of the  _ giant _ reason before him. The pirates may be miffed with Ferdinand himself, but Dimitri's actions might affect them both. Self preservation, he said to himself, self preservation is top priority.

Dimitri let out a low sigh like a growl before unceremoniously slouching in the middle of his cell, obviously even more annoyed than he was before. A feeling Ferdinand was beginning to know too well himself. Obviously relegating himself to the situation they've caught themselves in. He scooched over closer to the bars. "I am not saying you  _ should not.  _ I am simply recommending that you wait just a little while."

Ferdinand received another rough grunt in response. He looked down at the bread in his hands before putting it and the plate through the bars into Dimitri's cell. "You need this more than me. If anyone is going to get out, it is you."

"Hmph," Dimitri disregarded the food. "You should not be giving your food to your enemy."

"I… do not know if we could still count as enemies in this situation. Let us… truce for a while. Until we can get out." Ferdinand replied.

"We?"

Ferdinand laughed a single low laugh. "Do you think I am giving you my food only out of the kindness of my heart? We both know you are stronger. Once you have recovered enough you could probably rip these bars apart."

The other shuffled over to swipe up the bread. "You're a fool if you think I'm going to take you with me."

Dimitri tore into the bread with an air of savagery that was familiar to his savage ways of fighting. Watching the blonde ignore him again, Ferdinand smiled slightly. "Oh, I do not know. I thought you would find one of the Emperor's high-ranking generals a nice bargaining chip against the Empire when you got back. I guess I was mistaken."

It was a lie. A bold-faced lie. Edelgard would not hesitate to sacrifice Ferdinand's life for the greater good of their cause, and he knew it. Ferdinand only hoped that Dimitri didn't. From the way Dimitri froze, shoulders slightly hunched, his words seemed to have anchored the idea in his head. The relieved sigh that escaped him was inappropriate, to say the least. An escape from the pirates would be somewhat easy with Dimitri's help, but escaping from Dimitri himself was a whole other issue. He shivered to himself thinking about what this man had done to Imperial soldiers. Would that be him when they leave?

Still, it was the best plan he could muster right now, no matter how suicidal it seemed now that he thought about it. He shoved down those nagging thoughts in favour of escaping into sleep.


End file.
